Grain-cleaning machine



D'ec. 11, 1923. 1,477,028

. Y F,. C. BLODGETT GRAIN CLEANING MACHINE :if Filed Feb. 16, 1922 Patented Dec. 11, 1923.

s'r'rs PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK c. BLODGETT, E MINNEAPOLIS, MINNEsoTA,.AssIeNoE or ONE-HALE To FRANK J. sEIDL, 0E MINNEAPOLIS, MINNEsoTA.

GRAIN-CLEANING MACHINE.

y yApplication filed February 1S, 1922. Serial No. 537,086.

Tb ull echtem; y y Bfefitknw'ri-thatv FRANK C. BLDGET'I, acitizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis`,l in `the cour/ityA of Hennepin and 5 State of Minnesota, have `invented a new and useful' Grain-Cle,anir'igr Machine, of which the following is a lspneeiiica'tion.' l

inventionrelatesfto improvements in grainfcleaning'inachinesl e l, One object-iste "Frovid'e al simple', durable :indvv eHiCie'r/rt 'of 'including in .lclihdjzrn teeeivgi 'reh esitate@ baer-pee plaehaebaeahnheagitation ofmther 4 screen' serving" to" sift the grain and Vlngef the' downvvardftoward the depressed. dliveryend off `said ,"sc'zrefen.` v f*Meer@ser@wiselya device as above-,fthe same'vhavingfa hopper to receive thefscreening's" aiidf tappet actuating gmeans inter'pbsed *betweer'nfthe tappets, and said hopper, said actu:ating` means `serving to 'eject thev screenings from the hopper. i

A fart "objeet ig te .provide ,a `instalan@ of lthe sentv nature, the tapp'et actuating means Cbeing 'adjustable to, falterwthe action the takppets an'cilthe :hopper movable with seminare eaiheopeaion of the latter, as a screening ejector, is mainythefrio'regoing''and other objects in view,A yf whi-ch will appearV in the l following descrip-tion, 'l the inventionlresides in the novel combination and] arrangement of' parts and in the details construction hereinafter 85 describedaiid claimed. l

' Iii'tlie va plan, viefvvv of a machine erlibodvinmy kfinvention, `the lower Aend of "thel screen beingf broken away to vbetter illustrate 'the'.parts ther'ebenealth;

40 Fi'g.^2 is '.a' front elevatibnoffthe vmachine `and Fig; 3 is a longitudinalfsectional view ekh'on'thzune ses of Fia-2'..

Referring to'the drawingsgl have used the reference-:numeral 1Y0 :lo designate the legs er standards `ofthe my machine. `The legs 110,1 at each end of 'the' I nachine, "aire' joined by), Dross-"pigees 112 formed `with vertical' ways 12 iii the uprightI extremities 121 thereof; l A'tytheup'per vend of each leg`10 is'n inwardly* inclinedb-race "13. These braces l`{ cafrry inclined yside-bbfards i, 14, l which achetant apart er ,tts-mattine frange the elevated ends of said side-boards 14, the same being Yalso 'oined at their lower ends by a rest 17. n inclined grain receiving screen 18 is stretched between the side-boards 14.` The side margins of rsaid screen 18 are secured to theside-boards 14 by'cleats 19, while the end margins 'of the screen are suitably fastened on the rests 16 and 17. I supply a plurality of tappets A for striking the under 'side of the screen 18 and agitating the saine, whereby the grain thereon is siii'tedand urged, by the aid of gravity, toward the lower Vdelivery end of said screen. Each tappet A; consists 'of an arm 20,;littedwith a head 21 and a cani 22 depending from said arni near the'end oppositesaid head.' I .prefer vthat the arms 2() beI of hard wood, 'the heads 21 of rubber or the like,^a`ndthe cams 22 of sound deadening, wear resisting', material, A number of rods 28 traversing the space between the sideboards 14 and, lying in 'a common plane beneath the screen 18, supplypivotal supports for the arms 20, whichwarej` formed with bores,` at the ends opposite the heads 21, toI receive said rods.' Tie straps' 24, anchored at their ends to the side-boards14 are secured to the pivoted extremities of the arms 20 to spacethe tappets on thei'rrespective rods 23. -Tlie tappets oneachrod 28 con'- stitute a transverseseries, the tappets in each series being limited in their fall lby gravity, throughth'e medium ofa vbumper strap 25 traversing the space between' the side-boards 14.` U-shaped brackets B are fitted in the cross-pieces 11 tat the endsofthe frame,

the upright lreachesv 26 thereof being slidable in the* vertical ways 12 and the bases 27 supported on set-bolts 28, threadedin said crosspieces. The brackets B supply a mounting for a'hbpper C, adapted to receive screenings from the screen 18 thereabove and, further, to, supportl the tappetactuating means,

wh'icligwill be presently described. The

hopper C comprises a llat bottom 29 and Vupright sides 30, the latte'rbeing` embraced pulleys@ onanend agrer feachingthmgh a vertical slot 33 in one of the posts 10. An

idler' shaft 34, journaled in the other bracket B, supports spaced gears 35, similar gears 3G being secured to the drive shaft 31.

Each of two endless chains 37 is carried at one turn on one of the gears 35 and at the other turn on one of the gears 36. The upper reaches of said chains are slidably supported on rails or slides 38, which, in turn, are supported by reaches 39 resting on the sides 30 of the hopper C. Bars l0 reaclr ing from one chain 87 to the other are attached to opposite links in said chains. The various parts are so arranged that the bars 40, on the upper reaches of the chains 37, travel in a plane occupied by the cams 22 of the tappets A, whereby said bars will engage said cams and cause the tappets to be swung upward against the under side of the screen 18. Each bar 40 simultaneously actuates all of the tappets in a given series, said bars being arranged so that the several series of tappets are'actuated, one after the other, in rapidsuccession. The force of the impacts of the tappets A against the screen 18 may be altered, by adjustment of the set-bolts 28. These set-bolts elevate and lower the brackets B, thus causing the bars 40, on the upper reaches of the chains 87, toy travel in paths nearer to or further removed from the plane ofthe pivotal axes of the tappets A. By decreasing the distance between the tappet actuating path of the bars 40 and maintaining said path in parallelism with the plane intersecting the axes of the rods 23, the force of the impacts of the tappets A .against the screen 18 is uniformly increased from one end of the screen to the other and by decreasing that distance, the force of the blows of the tappets A against the screen 18 is lessened. Adjustment-of the set-bolts 28 causing the bars t() to travel in a path inclined with respect to the plane of the axes of the rods 23, results in a varied action between the severa-l series of tappets, the force of the impacts thereof against the screen 18 increasing or decreasing progressively from one end of the screen to the other. The bars 40 on the lower reaches of the chains 87, sweep the bottom 29 of the hopper C, ejecting the contents thereof from the end beneath the delivery end of the screen 18. The ejecting function of the bars 40 is not impaired by the adjustments altering the action of the tappets A, since the relation between the bottom 29 of the hopper C and the path of said bars, on the lower reaches of the chains 37, is fixed. VThe rails 38, being shifted in unison with the chains 37, function uniformly in the various adjustments.

Suitable chutes or conveyors (not shown) may be employed to conduct grain to the yupper receiving'end of the screen 18 and to carry the grain and screenings from the delivery ends of said screen 18 and the hopper Ga Changes in the specific form of iny in ven-v tion, as herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what lV claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, a frame, an inclined screen on the frame. sup-- ports traversing the frame, tappets pi voted on said supports and adapted to swing upward against the under side of said screen, each tappet including a depending cani member, a bracket at either end of the frame. transverse shafts mounted in said brackets. means for turning one of said shafts, a pair of gears on each shaft, spaced endless chains mounted on said gears, transverse bars car ried by said chains, a hopper supported by said brackets and arranged to receive screenings from said screen, supporting slides for the upper reaches of said chains', said slides being mounted on said hopper. the bars, on the upper reaches of said chains, being adapted to engage the cam members of the tappets and cause said tappets to strike the screen, the bars on the lower reaches of said chains being adapted to sweep the screenings from said hopper, said brackets being adjustable vertically to change the path of said bars and thereby alter the force of the impacts of said tappets against said screen.

2. In a device of the class described, a frame, an inclined screen on the frame, snp ports traversing the frame, tappets pivoted on said supports and adapted to swing upward against the under side of said screen, each tappet including a depending cam member, a bracket at either end of the frame, transverse shafts mounted in said brackets, means for turning one of said shafts, a pair of wheels on eachi shaft, spaced endless chains mounted on said wheels, transverse bars carried by said chains, supporting slides for the upper reaches of said chains, said bars being adapted to engage the cam members of the tappets and cause said tappets to strike the screen, said brackets being severally adjustable to alter the force of the irnpacts of said tappets against said screen.

3. In a device of the class described, a. frame, an inclined screen on the frame, supports traversing the frame, tappets pivoted on said supports and adapted to swing upward against the under side of said screen, a bracket at either end of the frame, trans` verse shafts mounted in said brackets, means for turning one of said shafts, a pair of wheels on each shaft. spaced endless chains mounted on Vsaid wheels, transverse bars carried by saidchains, said bars being adapted to engage the tappets and cause them to strike the screen, one of said brackets being adjustable vertically to alter the force lil of the impacts of said tappets against said screen.

l. In a machine of the class described, a main frame, a screen on said frame, tappets beneath the screen arranged to strike the under side thereof, a hopper and rotors beneath said screen, an endless tappet actuator' mounted on said rotors, and means for driving the actuator, the upper reach of said actuator serving to operate the tappets, andy the lower reach thereof` to eject screenings from the hopper.

5. In a device of the class described, a frame, an inclined screen on the frame, tappets arranged to strike the under side of said screen, a hopper beneath the screen to catch the screenings therefrom, means to aotuate the tap-pets and also eject the contents of said hopper therefrom, and mechanism for adjusting said actuating means and hopper simultaneously, whereby the action of the tappets is altered and the operation of said actuating means, as an ejector, is maintained.

6. In a device of the class described, a frame, an inclined screen on the frame, tappets arranged to strike the under side of said screen, a hopper beneath the screen to catch the screenings therefrom and means to uctuate the tappets and also eject the contents of said hopper therefrom.

7. In a machine of the class described, a frame, an inclined screen on the frame, tappets arranged to strike the under side of said screen, and means for actuating the tappets, said actuating means being adjustable to uniformly or progressively alter the action of said tappets.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANK C. BLODGETT. 

